[kvitacencia]

I live just outside Washington, D.C. There's too much to count (particularly civil war battlefields).

[WoCTrt0X]

I live just outside of Atlanta. There are a number of items of historical interest in this area. There is the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. and where he lived and worked for the cause of Civil Rights. The founding of Coca-Cola was in Atlanta. As well as the Battle of Atlanta during the American Civil War. There are a number of other things, but those are probably the most important.

[OgrGlgHu]

Pick the one that interests you most, and tell all about it.

[himecthekWiff]

Everything. Although we built shiny new white buildings over most of it.

[rbVmVlQ2]

Aside from a couple of Roman villa ruins, there is Fort Halstead, where the first British nuclear bomb was purportedly built.

In 1892 a protective ring of fortresses was built around London to keep out any would-be invaders. The idea was that they should be manned by volunteers in the event of a crisis and one of them was built at Halstead, high on the downs.

It was never really used until the take-over many years ago by the Government who placed its Ministry of Supply there and then it became the headquarters of the Royal Armament and Research Development.

They have employed thousands of people over the years, who have had to sign the official secrets act, but it’s no secret now that Britain’s first atom bomb was developed at Fort Halstead under the directorship of Williams Penny. The bomb was conveyed in a frigate to Australia and successfully exploded in the Monte Bellow islands.

In 1955 when we were all concerned about a nuclear attack, the local council came to the conclusion that Fort Halstead could be a Soviet target, so many strenuous efforts were made to protect citizens before it was too late. They spoke about bunkers and slit trenches and places safe from radioactive fall-out but by the time the debates were finished the scare was over.

Fort Halstead has been vital to the defence of our country. So I recommend you raise a glass, if you have one, to this famous village, its connection to Edith Nesbit, Halstead Hall, Halstead Place and, especially the delightful church of St Margaret's.

[jimmy28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Luis_Rey

[triarmarm]

Columbus, Ohio?

Well, it was Ground Zero for the theft of the 2004 Presidental Election, but other than that, the place is a cultural wasteland.

[mypharmalife]

Norwich. It had a thousand years to do something and ends up the place where a virgin is defined as a girl that can outrun her brothers.

[JAMES PIETERSE]

I'll start with the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, over the road from my home.


This magnificent Grade II* listed building, was originally built in 1846 as an engine shed and is recognised as an outstanding example of mid-19th century architecture, particularly its innovative use of cast and wrought iron to support the slate roof. Its elegant and robust detailing and internal size are all historically significant.

Its use as a steam engine repair shed didn't last long due to rapid technology advances and soon the Roundhouse was being used as a bonded warehouse by Gilbey's Gin. Then in 1964 playwright Arnold Wesker established Centre 42 at the Roundhouse, named after the trade union movement Article 42 stating that arts should be for everyone. This provided the stage for a legendary, cutting edge performing arts venue. Some of the most memorable theatrical performances in the '60s and '70s were staged here. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Peter Brook and The Living Theatre of New York all performed at the Roundhouse during this period.

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/about/history


David Bowie did a career-defining gig here, and The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Ramones, The Clash, Patti Smith and The Stranglers all played here. The Stranglers live album X-Cert was in part recorded there.

The Gin phase:


Under reconstruction in 2005:


Can't find a contemporary picture - maybe I should go out and take one.

Much of what follows is from memory with a few dates and details looked up. I apologise for any innacuracies, but it's more loving than a cut & paste.

The original London-to-Birmingham railway terminated here until it was extended down to Euston, where the station was opened in 1837. It was the first of five stations to be opened on or nearby what was originally called the New Road when it was built in the mid 1700's. This road, running West-to-East to the North of central London became a spine of new development as the city grew and the policy was to let the railway lines to the North, the Midlands and the West of England come as far as the New Road and no further..

Because the railway had to go over the newly-built Regent's Canal then under Hampstead Road, there were problems with the gradient which was too steep for the early locomotives to manage, so a steam winching-engine was built at Chalk Farm to pull the passenger coaches up. This actually became a landmark and a tourist attraction in itself, with a Pub advertising views of the winch-engine buildings.

In 1852 Kings Cross Station was opened a few hundred yards east of Euston. This served the Great Northern Railway, and in 1857 the Midland Railway terminal of St Pancras Station was opened immediately to the West of Kings Cross.

The line out of St Pancras was not without problems either, as it went through the site of St Pancras cemetery, and required hundreds of graves, coffins and bodies to be removed and relocated. Dozens of gravestones were stacked up against a tree, where they remain today, with the roots growing all round them like a scene from a gothic horror film. The man responsible for this was a Mr Thomas Hardy, who would later become the famous novelist. Another item of note in whats left of the cemetery is a mausoleum with a feature designed by the famous architect George Gilbert-Scott which is said to have been the basis of the design for the top of the famous British red public phone box.

A more recent claim-to-fame for the churchyard are the railings through which the Beatles were photographed for the inside gatefold sleeve of the Red and Blue albums.

At the front of St Pancras Station was built the Midland Grand Hotel, a neo-gothic palace designed by Gilbert Scott using a plan originally intended for the Foreign Office. It was ludicrously expensive, and closed in 1935, but is currently being refurbished. In Douglas Adams' 'Long Dark Teatime of the Soul' it was the temporally-relocated Valhalla of the Gods - who in modern times were the tramps who hung around the area.



The interior of the station, when built, featured the largest span of its day, 245 ft, and 105ft high. To get over the canal a bridge was used but the station was raised 17 ft above street level.

Hydraulic lifts were built to take whole wagons down to the vast storage areas beneath, wher the pillars that hold up the platform level are so placed as to economically encompass barrels of beer from Burton. The station was, and is, a remarkable feat of engineering

John Richardson. A history of Camden



Although the area suffered from the grim industrialism of the railways and their goods yards, the meeting of the railway and canal at Camden was to define its role both as a storage area for wine and gin, and a production centre for pianos. Although the dirt, soot and noise caused blight in the age of steam the goods yards would eventually become the thriving Camden Market of today, which linked to the vibrant nightlife which developed, eventually made the area a major tourist attraction in the late 20th and early 21st century and, no doubt, beyond.

[NowFloabDow]

Wernazuma, don't you have a football team, Sturm Graz? Do they have an interesting history?

[soajerwaradaY]

actually, historical in my town is some casino from the 50's or 60's

[Gooracouppy]

We are a city because it was a good place to beat on beavers, or at least gather to trade their fur.

A little later we got picked by a Liberal PM and Victoria to be the capital of a new province. Suck that, Calgary!

Still more later many of the pilots in the BoB and later trained here, and local factories turned out hella lot of airplanes. Calgary was still sucking.

A bit more later and one of those damn beavers dug a bit too deep and black, icky stuff started bubbling up out of the ground. The sucking in Calgary increased.

Lately we've been the centre of development for some of the largest petroleum reserves to ever excite a Texan. Our greatness was imortalised by the building of the world's then largest shopping mall. Since Calgary couldn't manage even so meagre a feat, that city still sucks!

I should mention that a large part of the history of Edmonton involves a rivalry with a small town south of here named Calgary. It should go without saying that any town named Calgary sucks.

[Jambjanatan]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Thomas Edison lived here for a while... Which reminds me that Johannes Kepler worked in Graz before the Habsburgs went anti-reformation crazy.

[GDRussiayear]

I'm now in Palanga. In it is the Birute hill and a nice surrounding park, where the second wife of our pagan Grand Duke Kestutis, Birute (also mother of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, victor of Tannenberg battle) , is buried.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birut%C4%97
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palanga

[siflversonemunk]

Franklin Tennessee has an interesting history for sure. One of the most notable buildings is the Masonic Lodge. This structure has the designation of being the 1st 3 story building constructed west of the Allegheny Mountains. Here is a breif history of some of the events that have happened there and of the building itself:

Franklin's Masonic Lodge is a building of many firsts. Hiram Lodge No. 7, founded in Franklin in 1809, was first affiliated with the parent Lodge No. 55 in North Carolina. The local Lodge surrendered its North Carolina charter when the Grand Lodge of Tennessee was constituted in 1813 and received its present charter in 1815. In 1817 the Masons of Franklin organized the first legal lottery in Tennessee to fund the construction of a Masonic Hall. The three-story temple, completed in 1823, was the tallest building west of the Allegheny Mountains. Hiram Lodge No. 7 has met in the Masonic Hall since its completion, making it one of the oldest continuous lodges in the same location in the United States.

In addition to the temple's long Masonic history, it has been the site of many important religious, political, and social events. In 1830 James H. Otey, later the first Episcopal bishop of Tennessee, organized St. Paul's, the state's first Episcopal Church, at the Masonic Hall. On December 7, 1830, noted religious reformer Alexander Campbell preached in the hall and planted the seeds for the Church of Christ, which continued to meet on the site until the congregation completed the construction of a house of worship on Fourth Avenue in 1852. United States Commissioners John H. Eaton and John Coffee accompanied President Andrew Jackson to meet in council with the Chickasaw delegation in 1830 to negotiate the sale of Indian lands, marking the first time a U.S. president had personally participated in treaty negotiations. During the Civil War Confederate spies climbed to the roof to observe troop movements at Fort Granger, a Federal post across the river on Figuers's Bluff. After the battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, the hall served as a hospital for wounded Union soldiers.

[johnbeller]

I think she lived in a lot of places.

[Poohoppesmase]

Dreux, 60 km west of Paris.

The first large battle of the French Wars of Religion occurred at Dreux, on December 19, 1562, resulting in a near-run victory for the Catholic-Royal forces. Total KIA : 8000. This kind of casulties are likely amongst the arguments at the origin of the laicité.

[kennyguitar]

Ah, Marin County, home to some of the richest towns in the US, and my own person as well. We have a wide assortment of streets named after a certain Sir Francis Drake and his ships (Golden Hind Avenue, anyone?). In the scenic town of Larkspur, there is a decidedly ugly modernist statue of how giant-Drake might have looked if he was made out of origami and magically transmuted to bronze. But why the fascination?

It turns out that Drake, hero of the English and hated scourge of the Spanish, landed somewhere on America's Pacific coast, called it "Nova Albion" (we have streets called that, too) and utilized it in his quest to plunder Spanish shipping in the area. It's been theorized that Nova Albion was, in fact, Marin County (or a part thereof), and thus "Drake's Bay" on the western coast of the county was named. Of course, there's still debate as to whether this actually was his landing spot, but that hasn't stopped us from naming everything after Drake that we possibly can without creating too much local confusion ("Oh, you live on Nova Albion Way, I thought you were on Nova Albion Drive").

So here's to Drake, who - wherever he landed - managed to give the Spaniards a hell of a time and form the basis for English claims over North America stretching from Sea to Shining Sea before we Americans ever thought up the phrase.

Did I mention we're related?

[Apparpsmose]

There is a replica of the Golden Hinde by a pub I frequent.

http://www.eyerevolution.co.uk/virtu...p?location=212

[Gaxiciverfere]

He was a Rosbif, you should be